Plants of Concern: Standardized Rare Plant Monitoring Using Trained Volunteers
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Plants of Concern: Standardized Rare Plant Monitoring Using Trained Volunteers Final Report to Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Illinois Wildlife Preservation Fund Grant #12-L01W Chicago Botanic Garden December, 2012 Covering the grant period from July 1, 2011 to December 1, 2012 with comparative discussion from 2001-2010 Submitted by: Susanne Masi, Manager of Regional Floristics Principal Investigator Co-authored by: Rachel Goad, Research Assistant, Plants of Concern With contributions from: Bianca Rosenbaum, Conservation Data Manager TABLE OF CONTENTS Concepts and Objectives ________________________________________________________ 1 Summary: Monitoring Results 2001-2007 ____________________________________________ 2 The Volunteer Component ______________________________________________________ 3 Level 1 Monitoring Data Analysis _________________________________________________ 5 Level 2 Demographic Monitoring Update ___________________________________________ 14 Program Evaluation ____________________________________________________________ 14 Conclusion and Future Directions _________________________________________________ 21 Attachments __________________________________________________________________ 23 PLANTS OF CONCERN: CONCEPT AND OBJECTIVES This document is a report covering the period July 1, 2011 through December 1, 2012 with detailed analysis of the 2011 season in relation to previous seasons, as well as a preliminary account of the 2012 season. Final 2012 numbers are not yet available. Plants of Concern (POC) was launched in 2001. This long-term rare plant monitoring initiative is unique to the region in its use of standardized monitoring protocols used by trained citizen scientists. The program has now completed ten years of monitoring and has accumulated a substantial base for analyzing long-term data on a significant number of species and Element Occurrences (EOs). Species monitored by POC were initially selected largely from the 1999 Chicago Wilderness Biodiversity Recovery Plan’s species priority list, because they are state endangered or threatened and are considered by regional land managers and ecologists to be rare and significant within the Chicago Wilderness region (CW). In subsequent years, POC staff and landowners have decided, on a case-by-case basis, that any listed plant was eligible to be included in the program. The non-listed species monitored by POC are “species of concern” that represent individual landowners’ choices of rare, high quality species that they wish to track at the county level. Through 2011, POC monitored 120 listed species and 117 rare species. The primary geographic area covered by POC from 2001-2006 included the six counties of northeast Illinois, with one site in Kankakee County. In 2009, four sites from Kendall County, Illinois were added. Because of POC’s Chicago Wilderness affiliation, since 2007, 15 sites have been added in northwest Indiana and six sites in southeast Wisconsin (see GIS Map, Attachment 1). This report will focus on Illinois counties and species. POC incorporates the following interrelated elements, all equally important to its success and recognition as a unique and valuable long-term monitoring program: Monitoring rare plants, particularly state-listed species, over time using a standardized census protocol to gain uniform data (plant numbers, population area, GPS coordinates, invasive and other threats, and management activities) on populations on a regional basis (Level 1 Monitoring Form, Attachment 2). Select species are targeted for more intensive demographic monitoring (Level 2) that supports projects coordinated by CBG researchers assisted by volunteers. Monitoring rare species in relation to management activities as reported by both monitors and land managers to form a feedback loop for short- and long-term adaptive management responses (Attachment 3). Analyzing the POC long-term dataset for an increased understanding of population trends in relation to management activities and to invasive species and other threats. Training volunteers as citizen scientists to leverage agency resources for monitoring rare species and to create an informed conservation constituency. Working in partnership with public and private landowners, land managers, and agencies, through an Advisory Group (Attachment 4), to generate a shared approach to regional monitoring. In 2012, two staff members, a manager and a research assistant, managed the overall POC program. Two other research assistants worked at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie on a POC-based monitoring program and with the Cook County Forest Preserve District monitoring effort, respectively. Finally, a part-time intern was assigned to the Openlands Lakeshore Preserve monitoring program. Reports on the listed species monitored through all these programs are included in the reports to the Illinois Natural Heritage Database. 1 SUMMARY: CUMULATIVE MONITORING RESULTS 2001 – 2011 In 2011, POC’s eleventh year, the program exhibited growth in nearly all measures of accomplishment and participation. The number of monitored subpopulations remained steady from 2010, although the number of monitored EORs was greater. Retention of EOs was steady, with 51% of EOs monitored in previous years also monitored in 2011. In 2011, 122 new EOs were monitored, nearly twice as many as were newly monitored in 2010. The Illinois Natural Heritage Database tracks listed species across the state, and POC monitors 66% of the 923 EOs and 80% of the 169 listed species in seven northeast Illinois counties that this agency records (July 2011). It is important to note, however, that the percentage given for EOs monitored is slightly inflated because a single EO in the state database may include several sites, whereas POC EOs are site specific. The following graph and table are discussed in detail in the remainder of the report and in Attachments 5-7. (Note: Statistics in the following figures, tables and attachments were derived from the POC database for analysis on several different dates starting 9/17/2012 and may reflect minor discrepancies in numbers. Graphs from previous years may not correspond precisely due to late report submissions, merging of subpopulations and other factors). Figure 1. POC accomplishments and participation for all years, 2001-2011. Includes IN and WI. 1000 800 600 400 200 0 Species (237) EORs (1001) Subpops (1748) Sites (308) Landowners (112) Volunteers (671) 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Table 1. POC accomplishments and participation for all years, 2001-2011, including IN and WI. 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Cumulative Species * 45 66 78 95 108 143 144 164 166 164 176 237 EORs 98 153 180 246 281 366 431 510 524 501 570 1001 Subpopulations ** 127 237 259 403 455 581 680 819 810 859 861 1748 Sites 59 75 83 117 133 151 181 199 196 192 222 308 Landowners 24 32 38 42 44 54 63 69 65 68 79 112 Volunteers 53 96 104 154 170 167 215 264 266 243 268 671 * Includes 120 (IL) listed and 117 rare, non-listed species (Attachment 5). **A subpopulation is defined as a grouping of a species within the same EO that is tracked separately because it is located more than 50 meters from another grouping, or because the grouping is within a different management unit or habitat. 2 Species monitored in multiple counties (see Attachment 5 for a breakdown of listed and non-listed species and the number of EOs monitored for each). Species (listed and non-listed) monitored across multiple counties are the basis for a regional assessment of species status. Illinois 1 species in 6 counties 7 species in 5 counties 15 species in 4 counties 33 species in 3 counties 60 species in 2 counties 113 species in 1 county 2001-2011 cumulative EOs monitored (listed and non-listed), by IL county: Cook: 221 DuPage: 176 Kane: 68 Kankakee: 2 Kendall: 10 Lake: 295 McHenry: 112 Will: 63 Total: 947 THE VOLUNTEER COMPONENT OF POC: CITIZEN SCIENTISTS Without volunteers, POC could not function successfully. Both public conservation agencies and private groups recognize the importance of leveraging volunteer resources for monitoring and management work. Citizen science, now termed Public Participation in Scientific Research by the Citizen Science Central network out of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is increasingly acknowledged as a method for gathering reliable and valuable data, thereby greatly expanding potential for scientific analysis. Each major agency working with POC typically has one or two staff, a volunteer coordinator, and/or ecologist assigned to work with POC in recruitment, training, and field assistance of volunteers. Note on volunteers for 2012. It is important to mention that this spring brought special challenges to all monitors. Because of record warm temperatures in early spring, plants started to bloom a month or more earlier than normal, some before training workshops were completed and new volunteers assigned to their species. There followed a challenging period of rapid communication with volunteers and volunteer coordinators as well as field checking for blooms in order to monitor the many spring bloomers in time. Monitors rose to the occasion and most came through very well. The record-breaking high temperatures and drought during the summer brought additional challenges to volunteers, and to the plant species themselves. Final tallies for 2012, which will be completed by March 2013, will demonstrate the effects of these conditions on POC volunteer numbers. 3 Volunteer